


Golden One (Who Burns Just Like the Sun)

by SecretEnigma



Category: Fairy Tail, RWBY
Genre: And Siblings Who Love Him, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Oscar Pine, Canon FT Characters Will Only Appear in Flashbacks, Confused Ozpin (RWBY), Don't copy to another site, Dragon Slayer Magic (Fairy Tail), Dragon Slayer Yang, Dragon Yang Xiao Long, Dragonnip Ozpin, Earthland is a Great Place, F/M, Fairy Tail Dragon Slayers, Gen, Good Parent Raven Branwen, Good Parent Taiyang Xiao Long, It's Angry Dragon Slayer vs Grimm what did you expect, Like- wayyyy down the line, Mercury and Emerald get out AU, Minor Blood and Gore, Oscar Pine Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ozpin (RWBY) Lives, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Until it isn't, Whitley Deserves a Hug, Why Did I Write This?, Yang Xiao Long Needs a Hug, eventually, i blame discord, wow that's a tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29346453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretEnigma/pseuds/SecretEnigma
Summary: When Yang is fifteen, she disappears for two months, three weeks, two days, seven hours. When Qrow finds her, she's all the way in Anima, scarred and wary and ready to kill. They think it's Salem. Yang doesn't know how to tell them that there are things far more beautiful and far more terrifying than that, they just live in another world.Or. Lived. Before the end.The scars on her shoulders still feel like fire.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Sun Wukong, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Mercury Black/Yang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 50
Kudos: 126





	1. Taiyang

**Author's Note:**

> NEW FIC! Because I have no impulse control. I have ... several ... RWBY fixit fics in the works actually, but two are multi chaps with long word counts and the others are supposed to be one shots *eyes uneasily*. But for this one I decided to intentionally go with shorter chapters and a more ... drabble? Format. Where I allow myself to time skip and kinda meander through POVs as I please, which is why this chap is so short (there will be other chapters that are longer than this I promise). My only rules for this fic is each chapter has to be above 1k words and only one POV per chapter, which is why some chapters will cover the same or similar events but from multiple point of views.
> 
> And yes it is listed as a Fairy Tail crossover but so far I have no plans for any canon characters to show up outside of flashbacks (though that might change, who knows with my muses). I'm basically going- "huh, if Edolas is a canon alt dimension that people can accidentally fall from into Earthland, what OTHER world might have that same potential problem at least once?" And then I use it as an excuse to make Yang epic, Ozpin confused, and the canon plot leave this world faster than Salem's moral compass.

Two months, three weeks, two days, seven hours. That was how long she’d been gone. Taiyang had counted. Had been unable to **not** count. Had been unable to keep from obsessing, but what else could he do when one of his **daughters was missing**? Disappeared without a trace on her way home from Signal. There had been no sign of struggle or Grimm, no note to indicate his daughter had chosen to run away —though he couldn’t imagine her doing that, not when she was happy and when she doted on Ruby so much—. Nothing. It was as if one moment she had been on her way home and the next like she had stopped existing altogether.

Two months, three weeks, two days, seven hours. Not a trace of her to be found. Not even Qrow could find anything using all his contacts, all of **Ozpin’s** contacts. He had dug up other things. Other mysterious disappearances similar to Yang’s, but it was hard to tell if it was connected or just coincidence when the range of missing people were so large. From any continent and any age from ten to twenty-five, connected only by their complete lack of clues and that they all happened on the same day —at the same time, down to the **minute** as far as Qrow could gather—. Once Qrow had stumbled on the first two cases and gone looking for others, he’d managed to dig up **dozens**. From Vale, Atlas, Mantle, Vacuo, even a few settlements outside the kingdoms. Stories of loved ones vanishing without a trace on the exact same day and at the exact same time. From out of their beds in the middle of the night in the same moment others disappeared in the middle of the day while out shopping with friends, all depending on their timezone. No one knew **why**.

Qrow had gotten a dark look on his face over it, one of the times he’d visited, stinking of alcohol and regret that he hadn’t yet found any trace of Yang. Taiyang had swallowed back the name on his tongue. He’d never gotten pulled in as deeply as Qrow or Raven or Summer, he’d chosen not to after hearing the basics. But he still knew the name. He still knew enough to wonder if it was **Her** doing somehow. But there was no evidence of that either.

There was no way to know if it was something else, or if it was Her. If it was the latter … Taiyang couldn’t bring himself to think about that —because if he did he would acknowledge that his Sunny Little Dragon was dead, or better off dead, and he couldn’t bear that thought—.

Two months, three weeks, two days, seven hours spent trying to hold himself together and console Ruby and occasionally drag Qrow to the couch to sleep off his drunken stupor. Trying not to acknowledge the pitying looks, trying not to snap at people who whispered that maybe Yang had run off just like her mother had. Trying not to pay attention to the raven that had visited briefly and started cawing in distress after being unable to find Yang —if she really cared she would show up on **two legs** and **talk** to him, not sit in a tree and pretend they both didn’t know she was there—.

Two months, three weeks, two days, seven hours. Taiyang was sitting in his office in Signal, grading papers with a numb sort of focus that was the only kind he could muster these days for activities that were necessary but felt so useless —his instincts screamed that if he was a good father he would be out there **looking for her** rather than grading papers, even if he needed his salary to care for Ruby—. Then his Scroll rang. He checked it without any enthusiasm, sat up straight with a suddenly thrumming heart as he read the caller ID.

Qrow **never** called without good reason. Not anymore. He barely called at all, and never for little reasons. He was too busy running missions for Ozpin and looking for Yang to waste time on small talk even with his brother-in-law. Taiyang accepted the call with trembling hands and braced himself for something terrible —prayed for a miracle—, “Qrow.”

“Tai.” Qrow sounded horrible, his voice rough and ragged from exhaustion and tinged with alcohol. Not enough to be drunk, but enough that Taiyang knew Qrow **wanted** to be drunk desperately and wasn’t allowing himself to be. Tai squeezed the armrest of his chair so tightly with his free hand he could feel the splinters pushing against his Aura —had he found a body, had he found that it was Her fault, had he- —, “Tai,” Qrow repeated hoarsely, “I found her.”

Taiyang could barely breathe, he wanted to hope but he also didn’t dare. He couldn’t even force himself to ask if he’d found Yang alive or dead or in a state that would make death more **merciful** -. A muffled noise on Qrow’s end, the sound of him taking another bracing drink and Taiyang could have **slugged** Qrow for making him wait even a second longer to know. Then, “She’s alive, Tai. She’s- she’s alive.”

There was a “but” in there, Taiyang could feel it, but for a moment all he could do was sag in his chair and struggle with the urge to start crying then and there. His baby girl was **alive**. “Where are you? Where is she? **How** is she? Is she…?”

“We’re in Anima. Found her near a village outside Mistral. She’s…” Qrow’s voice trailed off hesitantly and Taiyang knew he was going to have nightmares over the things in his head. Outside the kingdoms was dangerous. So unbelievably dangerous and Yang was only **fifteen**. Was she crippled? Scarred? Traumatized? Could she still see? Or speak? Or hear? Had she lost limbs or been **assaulted** or-. Taiyang inhaled and then gritted out, “Spit it out, Qrow. **Please**. Whatever it is can’t be as bad as what is going through my head right now.”

He was fairly sure Qrow muttered _wanna bet_ , but before Taiyang could process it, Qrow started talking, “ **Physically** , the worst things I can spot are that she’s underweight and got some scars. There’s … there’s probably more scars that I haven’t seen. She’s wearing clothes that cover a lot. She’s got all four limbs and as far as I can tell all the digits that are supposed to **be** on those limbs, her eyes are fine, there’s a notch in one of her ears but it’s not big and it doesn’t impair her hearing.”

Taiyang swallowed back his nerves, already seething at the thought of his baby girl having **scars** , “Mentally?”

Another muffled sound of a drink and a sigh that weighed the world, “Whoever they were, they screwed her up good. She just about killed me when I first saw her. That was my fault, I approached too fast and too loud and she didn’t recognize me at first. But I’m not joking about the ‘almost killed’ part, Tai. She fights like she’s got **years** of experience and she uses her body like she knows exactly how to kill other people with it. Smashed through my Aura in three hits and was going to rip out my throat before my Semblance kicked in. Made her stumble long enough for me to get out of arm’s reach and talk her down. Someone **took** her, Tai. She won’t say who or where, but someone had to have and they pounded more combat experience into her head than I had when I was **thirty**.”

Taiyang felt the armrest under his hand crumble into wood dust and splinters. Rage pounded a drum in his head even as fear and grief —what had they done to his baby girl, what had he not been able to **protect** her from— made his blood feel cold, “Did she … did she say why?”

“…Not yet. She’s … I’d use the world skittish, but she’s not scared, she’s angry. Feral, maybe. More than Raven and I ever were. She doesn’t like me asking questions, and I don’t want to push too hard.” Qrow lowered his voice, grim and ragged, “She’ll bolt if I push too hard. Whatever they did … she doesn’t trust me. I don’t know if she remembers what it was **like** to trust me. She’s giving me the benefit of the doubt because I’m her uncle, and she wants to come home, but right now she trusts me about as far as I’d trust someone telling me there were tundra flowers blooming in Mantle. It’s not impossible, but it’s sure not likely.”

Taiyang closed his eyes and rubbed at the tears that were falling, “Okay … okay. We’ll … we’ll work on that. Once she’s home.” His breath hitched, if he held the Scroll any tighter it might shatter like the armrest had, “Bring her home, Qrow.”

“As soon as I can. We’re gonna head for Mistral in the morning. I’ll talk to Leo, he can pull some strings and get us a flight home fast…” Qrow’s voice trailed off briefly, then he resumed, “Gotta go.”

Taiyang sat up desperately, “Can I talk to her first?”

He could hear Qrow’s apologetic wince, “She’s sleeping right now. I think. Been out for the last two hours, or at least doing a stellar job pretending. Nice to know she trusts me enough for a shower and some shut eye at least.”

Taiyang swallowed back the urge to demand Qrow wake her up and put her on the line anyway. She needed sleep. Qrow would look after her and bring her home. He **would**. Taiyang could survive waiting a little longer to hear Yang’s voice again —to see her, to **hold** her—, “Right. Okay. When will you be here?”

“Assuming nothing goes catastrophically wrong? Probably the evening of the day after tomorrow. Day after that if there’s complications with getting an airship.”

The thought of waiting two days at the least burned, but it was better than nothing, “Right. See you … see you then.” He rubbed more tears away, “Call when she’s awake? I … I need to talk to her.” _To hear her voice for myself._

“Of course. See you in a few days, Tai.”

The Scroll beeped softly to signal the end of a call and Taiyang sat in his office for at least twenty minutes, shaking and crying in silent relief and grief and anxiety before he put himself back together and stood up. He stopped by the Headmaster’s office briefly to alert him that he was going to be taking the week off and pulling Ruby out of school for that time. All he had to do was say that Yang had been found, and the Headmaster waved him away with the gruff promise that Taiyang could take as much time off as he needed to care for his girls. That done, Taiyang slipped into Ruby’s class. It was beginning weapons design. Nothing practical just yet, Ruby and her classmates were only thirteen, had only started this semester, but it was Ruby’s favorite class already. Even so, the moment she saw him, she leaped to her feet and ran over, a mix of fear and hope on her face —he must not have cleaned up the signs of his own crying as well as he’d hoped—. Taiyang nodded to her teacher, who waved him off with a knowing look, and he led Ruby to a relatively private corner.

“She’s alive,” Taiyang breathed as he hugged his youngest daughter tight, “Qrow found her in Anima. They’re on their way home.” Ruby burst into tears as she clung to him and he rocked her back and forth. Later, he would warn her that Yang was … traumatized. That Ruby would have to be careful until they figured out what her triggers were —and there would be triggers, no one got enough experience in **two and a half months** to overpower a veteran Huntsman without trauma—. But for now…

For now Yang was alive, and she was coming home. They could take joy in that.


	2. Qrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Qrow POV! I think this is the longest chap I have on this one so far ^^; the others are all in the 2k range. But they're interconnected so it's fine.

It was the hair that grabbed his attention first. Mistral had a lot of people and a lot of hair colors, but **that** specific shade of fire gold was rare, especially around here. The thick wave to it was what kept his attention for more than a passing second, because he’d over spent half his life living with someone who had that kind of wavy hair and all the issues that came with keeping it glossy and long. The golden head of hair stalking down the road wasn’t in near as nice condition, but that didn’t make it any less recognizable. That was Raven’s hair but in gold.

…No way. Not with his Semblance. Two months, three weeks, and two days spent frantically searching for any sign even when running missions for Oz and he wasn’t going to just- run across her walking down a dirt road in the middle of Anima’s backwoods. But he looked at her face, downturned and half hidden behind a ratty scarf as it was, just as they passed each other by and his heart skipped so hard he was almost afraid it would stop altogether. He knew that face. He’d watched that face grow up until she suddenly disappeared almost three months ago.

He whirled as she walked by him without seeming to notice he was there, “Yang?” She didn’t react to his voice, he almost stumbled over his own feet in desperation to catch up to her, because it was **Yang** , it had to be. Those were Raven’s features and the lavender eyes that came from mixing Raven’s blood red and Tai’s soft blue. It was **her**. “Yang!” He grabbed her shoulder, pulling her to a stop.

Choked as his hand was knocked aside and a fist slammed into his sternum an instant after his fingers landed on her shoulder. His instinctive use of Aura was the only thing that saved him from shattered ribs, then from a collapsed chest as her other fist came up and sent him flying down the road. The third blow caught him before he could land, before he could do more than process that he shouldn’t have grabbed her from behind and that his Aura had just shattered and being murdered by his long-missing niece was **absolutely not how he wanted to die**.

He finally rolled to a stop on the dirt road, hand clutching the hilt of Harbinger on instinct, scrabbling mentally to recover his shattered Aura. He caught a blurred glimpse of gold hair and red eyes and for once in his life appreciated his Semblance, because his niece suddenly stumbling on a piece of stone —on the furrow he’d just left in the road with his body— was just enough time for him to fling himself backwards and out of reach. He held out a hand in the signal to stop, but didn’t let go of Harbinger, because if she came at him again he’d need to use it as a shield at the very least, “Yang, **wait**! It’s me! It’s Qrow!”

She hesitated. Stared at him, poised to go after him again, eyes flickering red, nostrils flared. She looked like she was on the edge of either a panic attack or trying to kill him again. Her fingers flexed, then her fists lowered. He wasn’t stupid enough to think she had relaxed. Her nostrils flared again, hair rippling almost like fire, which he hadn’t known it could do before now, “…Uncle Qrow?”

Qrow nodded, tried to pitch his voice into something soothing, “It’s me, kiddo. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. But- Brothers, Yang, we’ve been worried sick these last three months.”

Yang’s jaw worked, her face was almost eerily blank —like Raven at that age and older, and he didn’t like that thought or what it implied—, “Prove it.” Qrow faltered and her lips twitched like she wanted to bare her teeth at him, “Prove it. Prove you’re- that you’re my uncle.” Something bleak flickered over her face, hollow and fractured, before it was gone again, “Prove it to me.”

Qrow dared to let go of Harbinger’s hilt. Yang was … he had no idea what had happened to her, but she looked cold and hard, scraped raw and hiding it for her own safety. Someone had torn his niece apart and molded her into something that could smash right through an experienced Huntsman’s Aura in three strikes and he seethed just thinking about it. But he couldn’t afford to be angry right now, not with Yang sizing him up as a potential enemy. So he spread his hands placatingly and scrambled for decent proof. _I need a drink for this-, oh._ “When you were eight, you wanted to make me a ‘welcome home’ gift. You decided to make brownies. But the house was out of milk, so instead of using tap water, you got it into your head for some reason to use the bottle of whisky that you weren’t supposed to know was under the sink. Your dad just about skinned me when he got home to find you and Ruby passed out drunk on the floor from ‘testing out’ the brownies.”

Yang stared at him. Her hands slowly relaxed out of fists, “I was sick for the whole night and most of the day after. I hated it. Ruby kept throwing up. She was afraid to eat brownies for years after that…”

“Because she thought they were cursed,” Qrow finished gently. Yang kept staring, expression so blank it was almost a cry for help. Qrow dared to take a step forward, “It’s me, Yang. I promise.”

The tiniest shudder ran through her frame, like she was holding back from some greater response. She inhaled, exhaled slowly as the last of the glow faded from her hair, “I believe you.” Her voice cracked for just a moment before he saw her visibly wrestle it back under control, “I believe you.”

Qrow dared to take a few more steps toward her, picking his way around the furrow he’d left in the ground, making sure that each movement was slow and obvious. She let him approach, didn’t tense up or turn wary as he came to a stop just in arm’s reach. She stared up at him with a mask of porcelain, fragile and dangerous, and Qrow pushed down both his fury and the urge to get drunk until he wasn’t angry anymore. Instead, he tried to smile, “Hey there, Firecracker. We missed you.”

She closed her eyes, her breath shook before she opened them again, “Missed you too, Uncle Qrow.”

Qrow held his hands up a little higher, from placation to the offer of a hug, “Can I hug you, kiddo?”

She swallowed, he caught the glimmer of longing in her eyes, “…Just … don’t touch my shoulders.”

Qrow nodded and made a point to move slowly. He **wanted** to pull her close and squeeze her as tightly as he could, but he didn’t need to be a wise, quasi-immortal wizard like Oz to know that was a bad idea. So instead, he very slowly stepped in and rested a hand on the small of her back and the back of her head, tucking her against his chest, her head under his chin, like she was something fragile. She tensed in his arms but didn’t pull away, and when he tentatively ran his fingers through her tangled mane of hair, the tension in her frame unwound so that she was slumped against him. They stood there for a while, Yang trembling faintly in his arms but not crying like he thought she probably needed to, her skin under his hand almost fever hot and worrying as Qrow tried not to hug too tight and ignored the burning in his own eyes.

They stood there too long.

Yang’s head tilted slightly under his chin, the tension sliding back into her frame as she suddenly pulled out of his grip and turned to face the forest on the right side of the road, “Five of them. Perfect.”

Qrow twisted to face the same direction, hand falling to Harbinger again with a curse. He stepped forward as red eyes appeared between the trees and he finally heard the low growls and snarls that Yang must have noticed before him, “Stay back, I’ll-.”

Yang was already gone. Rushed past him in a blur of gold hair and a shouted war cry to slam into the middle of the Grimm. Qrow froze on the road, torn between the need to pull his niece out of danger and the terror that getting closer would doom her to getting hurt by his Semblance. Before he could make up his mind, it became clear that Yang … didn’t **need** him to intervene. Two of the Grimm, both Beowolves, were already fading into dust. The other two Beowolves were howling as they circled, teeth snapping only for Yang to dart in, grab the jaws of one and force them open so wide the monster’s skull split and it died, its body being thrown into the fifth Grimm’s face to distract it as she snapped out a kick that sent the other Beowolf flying.

The last Grimm was a **Beringel**. It’s bellow shook Qrow’s teeth.

Yang’s bark of laughter as she faced it head on shook his core.

He couldn’t tell at that point if Yang was toying with it or if this was actually a proper fight for her, but as he watched, Harbinger ready to fire at any moment, he felt his stomach drop. Yang was **handling** the Beringel. She took a few hits and her Aura had yet to so much as flicker, she gave as good as she got and the Beringel was the one staggering under a bare fisted assault. This … wasn’t something she should be capable of. This wasn’t how a fifteen year old student of Signal should be capable of fighting. Yang fought like an expert Huntress, like someone who knew all her limits and lines. Which limits she could cross in a time of need and which ones were absolute. She fought like someone who had been at this for **years**.

Brothers above, she’d been missing for just under three months. This shouldn’t have been possible. Not unless she’d been in constant danger for those missing months. Not unless she’d had to fight for her life so often and so hard that it was either grow up this fast or be left behind to bleed out on the ground.

Qrow needed to get drunk. Or be sick. He wasn’t sure yet.

In the end, Yang didn’t need his help taking down the Beringel. It turned to dust beneath her assault and she shook out her fists with a look of … not satisfaction, but release. Like fighting had been enjoyable to her, a way to blow off the stress of the reunion. It was a very … Tai-like reaction honestly, but that thought didn’t comfort him. She turned to face him and Qrow restrained the questions that wanted to rush out of him. He could see the wary light in her eyes even under her thin smile, the way her stance was still loose and ready to run. She was his niece, but she no longer trusted him. She probably no longer trusted **anyone**.

That thought felt like a knife to the gut, but he pushed past it, “Great job, Firecracker,” he said instead as he sheathed Harbinger, “Tai would’ve been proud to see that.” He wouldn’t have, he would have been **horrified** , but Yang didn’t need to hear that right now. Her nostrils flared and her expression flickered before settling on a smile. Qrow gestured down the road in the direction he’d been going, “There’s a crossroads not far from here that leads to a town. How about we get you a meal, a nice hot shower, and a soft bed for the night, hmm?”

Yang glanced past him at the path, then huffed, “Knew I should’ve taken the other fork in the road.” She rolled her shoulders, he wondered fleetingly if there were injuries he couldn’t see. She did look underweight, and there was a notch in one of her ears that didn’t look like it impeded her hearing but would have hurt when she got it. Her fingers and knuckles had faint scars on them as well that wound up her wrists before disappearing under her sleeves. But she didn’t move like she was in pain, showed no signs of actually having a fever despite her skin being hot to the touch during their hug, and she followed him without complaint or limp down the road toward the town Qrow knew was nearby.

They tried to talk on the road, but Qrow was wary of stepping on a sore topic and Yang wasn’t willing to volunteer any information, so for once Qrow did most of the talking. He told her about Ruby, and about Taiyang, about how they were doing, about Zwei being an idiot dog as usual. He tried to avoid the topic of how much her disappearance had weighed on them, but he knew it probably came through. They had all been obsessing since she’d disappeared.

He booked a single room with two beds at the hotel and had room service bring up food, of which he ended up eating almost nothing because Yang’s appetite was apparently monstrous now and he wasn’t going to begrudge her the extra food when he could see the hollowness of her cheeks. Talking her into a shower took a bit longer, she seemed wary at the thought of being naked with him in the other room —Qrow wanted to demand names, wanted to grab Harbinger and go kill something but refrained—, but he promised that he wouldn’t come in unless she started screaming for him —the fact that should have been a **given** but apparently wasn’t made him want to snarl—, so she tucked herself away in the bathroom to clean up.

Qrow waited until he heard the shower hissing to finally give in to his shaking hands and burning need for a drink. He downed the contents his flask with churning fury in his gut. He was **sure** that Yang had been kidnapped now. By who —or **what** — he didn’t know and would have to find a way to ask, but no one got that good naturally. No one went from being an ordinary teenager in a loving home to being wary of something as simple as taking a shower with family in the other room unless **something** had happened beyond being stuck in the wilds.

He thought of the dozens and dozens of missing persons cases he’d found, all of them so similar to Yang’s, all of them from different backgrounds and social statuses and locations. A name settled on his tongue, bitter and poisonous. He tried not to think about it. He would ask … later. When Yang remembered how to trust him. He would have to, but for now…

For now he had his niece back. That was good enough.

The world had a mellowing fuzz to it by the time Yang emerged, mane of golden hair restored to something clean and familiar rather than the tangled nest it had been before. She was still wearing the same clothes, and Qrow made a mental note to buy her something else. They’d head home as soon as possible, but that would be at least two days, longer if he couldn’t strong-arm Leo into lending a ship. She deserved clean clothes between now and getting back. Lavender eyes studied him up and down, too sharp to fit in a face that young, then settled on his flask, “Don’t suppose you’d care to share.”

Qrow grimaced, “Your dad would kill me if he found out.”

Yang snorted, the sound was more like a wolf’s sneeze than a human’s expression of disdain, “Then don’t tell him.” She sidled closer, “Come on, one drink won’t kill me.” He caught the way her lips twisted, like she was about to smile, but was too bitter for the expression to actually form.

Qrow knew that face from the mirror. Particularly back in his teen years. He clutched his drink a little tighter, “Sorry, kiddo. I think the family only has room for one drunk.”

She still eyed the flask in his hand, like she was going to try to snatch it. Then she shook her head and backed down, “Whatever. I’m going to get some shuteye. That a problem?”

“Of course not,” Qrow gestured with his free hand to the two beds, “take your pick.” She chose the one furtherest in the room. He wasn’t sure if that was because she trusted him to guard the door, or because it was closer to the window if she needed to escape. She rolled over so her back was to the wall rather than him and he pretended to be busy reading something on his Scroll until the burning weight of her gaze tapered off and she fell asleep. Or at least decided to pretend. He waited two hours, nursing his flask and struggling with the urge to get far more drunk than was responsible. Then he called Tai.

Tai answered in a ring and half, Qrow never called him for unimportant reasons. He could hear the tension in Tai’s voice as he picked up, “Qrow.”

“Tai,” he rasped. Then he stopped, because he didn’t know what to say. Where to properly **start** , “Tai, I found her.” The silence on the other end was painful. Qrow stared at the girl sleeping —or at least faking sleep— in the bed as far from his chair as she could get and took another drink, “She’s alive, Tai. She’s-,” _messed up, a soldier, a weapon, broken, angry,_ “she’s alive.”

Tai’sexhale on the other end was ragged with suppressed tears, “Where are you? Where is she? **How** is she? Is she…?”

Well, two of those were easy to answer at least, “We’re in Anima. Found her near a village outside Mistral. She’s…” He didn’t know where to start. How to say it in a way that wasn’t as gut wrenching as reality. He’d never been good at breaking news gently.

He must have taken too long, because Tai snarled into the silence, “Spit it out, Qrow. **Please**. Whatever it is can’t be as bad as what is going through my head right now.”

Qrow thought of a fifteen year old handling a Beringel like it was easy, of that same fifteen year old being wary of being touched or hugged by anyone, even the uncle who had helped raise her, “Wanna bet,” he muttered darkly, memories of the Tribe painting theories in his mind. Then he pushed past it before Tai could get hysterical, “ **Physically** , the worst things I can spot are that she’s underweight and got some scars. There’s … there’s probably more scars that I haven’t seen. She’s wearing clothes that cover a lot. She’s got all four limbs and as far as I can tell all the digits that are supposed to **be** on those limbs, her eyes are fine, there’s a notch in one of her ears but it’s not big and it doesn’t impair her hearing.”

“…Mentally?”

Qrow indulged in another drink and tried to find a way to word it so Tai didn’t completely lose his mind, “Whoever they were, they screwed her up good. She just about killed me when I first saw her. That was my fault, I approached too fast and too loud and she didn’t recognize me at first. But I’m not joking about the ‘almost killed’ part, Tai. She fights like she’s got **years** of experience and she uses her body like she knows exactly how to kill other people with it. Smashed through my Aura in three hits and was going to rip out my throat before my Semblance kicked in. Made her stumble long enough for me to get out of arm’s reach and talk her down. Someone **took** her, Tai. She won’t say who or where, but someone had to have and they pounded more combat experience into her head than I had when I was **thirty**.” He left out the part where she tore apart a pack of Grimm like they were nothing, but he could still hear something shatter on Tai’s end of the line.

A rough, tear-choked breath, “Did she … did she say why?”

“…Not yet. She’s … I’d use the world skittish, but she’s not scared, she’s angry. Feral, maybe. More than Raven and I ever were. She doesn’t like me asking questions, and I don’t want to push too hard.” Even though he was pretty sure that Yang was asleep, he lowered his voice, “She’ll bolt if I push too hard. Whatever they did … she doesn’t trust me. I don’t know if she remembers what it was **like** to trust me. She’s giving me the benefit of the doubt because I’m her uncle, and she wants to come home, but right now she trusts me about as far as I’d trust someone telling me there were tundra flowers blooming in Mantle. It’s not impossible, but it’s sure not likely.”

It took Tai a minute to be able to respond. Qrow tried to swallow down the guilt he was feeling with another quick sip of his flask before Tai murmured shakily, “Okay … okay. We’ll … we’ll work on that. Once she’s home … Bring her home, Qrow.”

He nodded even though Tai couldn’t see it and it made the world tilt, “As soon as I can. We’re gonna head for Mistral in the morning. I’ll talk to Leo, he can pull some strings and get us a flight home fast…” He squinted at Yang. Had she stirred or had he imagined it? Was his talking waking her up? He decided not to risk it, “Gotta go.”

The desperation in his friend’s voice hurt him, “Can I talk to her first?”

He winced, still watching Yang for any signs of waking up, “She’s sleeping right now. I think. Been out for the last two hours, or at least doing a stellar job pretending. Nice to know she trusts me enough for a shower and some shut eye at least.”

“Right. Okay. When will you be here?”

Qrow wrangled his thoughts into some semblance of order with practiced stubbornness, mentally reviewing the plan he’d been making while Yang showered, “Assuming nothing goes catastrophically wrong? Probably the evening of the day after tomorrow. Day after that if there’s complications with getting an airship.”

He could tell Tai was crying on the other end, even if he was trying to hide it, “Right. See you … see you then. Call when she’s awake? I … I need to talk to her.”

“Of course. See you in a few days, Tai.” Qrow hung up before he could hear Tai have a full breakdown, tilted the flask back for another drink and frowned when it came up empty.

…He should probably stop anyway. He’d need to be … up. In the morning. In control. Yang needed an adult right now, not a useless drunk. Qrow grimaced down at the empty flask as he shoved it roughly back onto his belt. If his flask hadn’t been empty, he knew those thoughts would have meant nothing. Would have **been** nothing but unfulfilled good intentions. But as it was, he made his way over to the empty bed and flopped down on it without bothering to remove his shoes. He was too tired and too angry to bother with things like comfort.

It took them a day and a half to reach Mistral, they had to get up before dawn both mornings and take the blasted train system on the second day —Qrow hated using public transit systems, they were too finicky for him to feel safe with his Semblance around them— to make it, but it was worth it to get Yang home as soon as possible. She relaxed a little around him the longer they were together, but she was still nothing like the teenager that had disappeared over two months ago. He paid for meals, which were still bigger than he remembered her ever needing before —not that he cared, if she wanted food he’d give her food—, and frequent snacks the whole way, which seemed to go some way to making her loosen up. When they got to Mistral, he took her straight up to Haven to go bother Leo. He’d remembered to text ahead, and had **maybe** abused some of the code phrases they used for Important Ozpin Business, but it worked and when Leo spotted Qrow’s long-missing niece trailing along behind him, eyeing the passing students with a wary expression, he hadn’t minded Qrow’s casual abuse of power.

If he thought Yang was wary around him, she was practically **ice** to Leo, sizing him up the entire time Qrow and Leo talked like she was thinking of ripping his throat out with her bare hands. But her only comment, once they were on a private airship and headed toward Sanus, was a low growl of, “He stinks of lies.”

Qrow had no response for that beyond questions —since when could Yang smell lies, was she being serious or just exaggerating— so he just shrugged, “He got us a ride without asking any questions.”

Yang snorted, quiet and bitter, but settled down by a window to watch the world go by. Qrow settled in for a long flight and barely restrained the urge to drink. He’d need a clear head to help keep things under control when they got to Patch, “The flight’s going to be a few hours,” he grunted into the silence, “You’re almost home, kiddo.”

He couldn’t read her expression, but he watched her fingers flex like she was trying to relax invisible claws before finally tucking her hands under her arms like a poor excuse of a self-hug, “…Yeah. Home.”


	3. Ruby

Ruby had been a bundle of nerves for two days. Barely able to sleep or eat, and really glad that Dad had pulled her out of school for the week because if she had to try to focus on classes right now she might actually lose her mind and leap out the window with her Semblance. Uncle Qrow had found Yang. He’d **found her** , all the way in Mistral, and he was going to bring her home and Ruby was ready to climb the walls already from nerves. He’d called them again the day after he gave them the news, what had been only afternoon-ish for her and Dad but had apparently been late for them, after they’d stopped. Dad had been angry at him for not calling sooner, but Uncle Qrow had pointed out that timezones meant them being up early would have meant the call was super late or early for them. Which hadn’t mattered to Ruby at all, because she’d wanted to **talk to her sister**.

Uncle Qrow had put his Scroll on speaker and Ruby had listened with bated breath, vibrating in place. “Hey Dad, Ruby,” had come hesitantly through the Scroll and Ruby hadn’t been able to keep herself from bursting into tears. Two months, three weeks, and two days her big sister had been missing. Just- **gone** , like she’d never existed except in Ruby’s memories. There had been no word, no clues, no bad guys to fight to get her back. Just empty silences in the house and all her classmates and friends **whispering** about whether Yang had run away or been kidnapped or **murdered** and-. And now she was found again. She was coming **home**.

She was pretty sure she managed to bawl something to that order at the Scroll, but she barely remembered much beyond that point other than Dad’s arms tightly holding her shoulders and Yang’s voice coming out of the Scroll in soothing —tired, so very tired was Yang okay— tones. Eventually Uncle Qrow had needed to hang up so he and Yang could sleep, and they hadn’t called at all today because they were busy trying to get an airship to take them home or something. Now it was evening, getting later and later, and she was losing her mind. Yang and Uncle Qrow would be here any minute, they had to be. He’d said they would be here. Day after tomorrow, he’d promised Dad. Yang was going to be **home** soon, and Ruby was going to hug her tight and never let go, and then demand to know what had happened, and who the bad guys were so Ruby could help her Dad and Uncle beat them up —she’d shoot them, but she didn’t have her weapon built yet and that was frustrating—.

Dad wasn’t too much better in the stress department, though he hid it better. He’d done a ton of cooking, and he’d locked Zwei outside for a while to keep the dog from going bonkers over their stress, but now Zwei was back inside pacing little circles and the food was ready and Dad had this weird look on his face that reminded her too much of faded memories of waiting for Mom to come home. Before they learned she wasn’t coming back.

_This isn’t like that,_ Ruby reminded herself as she worried the hem of her cloak, _Yang is coming home. She’ll be here any minute, and you have to remember to follow Dad’s rules, because Yang has had a really bad time of being missing-._ Zwei’s ears pricked and he started barking really loud at the door. Dad straightened up, but Ruby was already at the door, bouncing off it with her Semblance before scrambling at the knob and yanking it open. Uncle Qrow was only partway down the driveway still, not even at the porch, but Ruby didn’t care. Distance didn’t matter.

Her missing sister following on his heels was what mattered.

All of Dad’s careful warnings about not rushing Yang and not yelling and not using her Semblance to crash into her sister like she used to went flying out of her head. She shrieked something that was supposed to be Yang’s name but was too high-pitched for even Ruby to tell and launched off the porch with a burst of her Semblance. She crashed into her sister, flinging her arms around Yang’s neck, knocking the wind out of her own lungs because Yang hadn’t staggered back an **inch**. Before she’d disappeared, Ruby had been able to make Yang fall over with her Semblance hugs, but now Yang just slid her feet on the ground a bit and let Ruby hang off her shoulders like she was a statue or something, “You’re home, you’re home, you’re home, **I missed you so much, Yang** -!”

Yang was being so quiet that Ruby finally remembered Dad’s warnings. Oh no. Oh no she’d done literally all the things Dad had said not to —except for not asking about what happened—. She started to pull away and apologize, but then Yang’s hands came up and touched her back and neck in the shyest hug Ruby had ever gotten. This wasn’t the big bear sister hug she was used to, this was something … afraid. Like she thought Ruby was made of snow, or cookie dough, and would crumble away if she grabbed too hard, “Hey, Rubes.” Yang’s chin settled on her head, Ruby could feel her sister shaking like she was cold even though the weather was nice and warm and Yang’s skin was almost hot to the touch, “I’m here.”

Ruby held on tighter and tried not to burst into tears again, “I missed you,” she choked out, “I missed you **so much**. The teachers thought you’d run away, a-and the kids at school thought maybe you’d been k-killed or eaten b-by Grimm and I tried to look for you. I looked all over the neighborhood, a-and then I asked Violet’s b-big sister to drive m-me around Patch but I couldn’t f-find anything and-.”

Yang’s grip tightened a little, but still nothing like the hugs Ruby was used to —like she **wanted** —, “I know. I know, Rubes. I’m … I’m sorry. I … I tried to come back. As soon as I could. I-.” Yang stopped talking, and her body was like a statue again. Ruby heard footsteps behind her and realized Dad was there, she could hear Zwei nearby too, growling for some reason before cutting off with a soft yip and a low scolding from Uncle Qrow.

“Got room for one more?”

The pause was so long it made Ruby peak out to look at Dad, who was standing just a bit away, with his arms out in invitation and a smile on his face that wobbled at the edges. She didn’t know why Dad was asking **permission** to hug, or why Yang was taking so long to say yes. But then Yang reached out one arm for Dad, “Just- don’t touch my shoulders?”

Dad’s face did something complicated, then the wobbly smile returned, “Of course. Anything for my Sunny Little-.”

Yang’s grip on Ruby tightened so fast it was almost painful and Yang felt like she was shaking as she barked, “ **No**.” Dad startled, Ruby stared up at her sister in shock. Yang’s eyes were squeezed shut. She looked like she was hurting, “…Sorry. Don’t call me that. Don’t **ever** call me that. Please.” Her voice cracked, for a moment Ruby wondered if Yang was going to cry, surely she deserved a good long cry, but all she did was get quiet and desperate sounding, “Please … I … I can’t … I … Sunny is fine just not- the- not-.”

Dad stepped in close, one arm settling over Ruby’s shoulders and the other over Yang’s lower back as he gently tapped his forehead to Yang’s. He was still smiling, but he was also crying and it made Ruby start to cry too as he whispered, “Alright. Alright Sunbeam. It’s okay. We’re going to get through this. We’re going to be okay. You’re home now.”

Yang blinked, fast and hard, then she tucked her head under Dad’s chin, “…Home?”

Ruby squeezed her sister as hard as she could, pretending not to notice how Yang’s skin was too hot and how she was shaking and how she sounded so lost even though her family was **right here** , “You’re home, Yang. Welcome home.”

Yang’s hug tightened, but there was something in it that made Ruby think she wasn’t convinced. Something in the way her sister stared at her like she was a ghost, and looked around the house like she hadn’t seen it in **years** , and didn’t seem that hungry even though she had seconds of supper. Something about how she just listened to the strained conversation at dinner between Dad and Ruby and Qrow about everything Yang had missed while she was gone that made some part of Ruby think that **Yang** thought she wasn’t really home. That it was all a dream.

That night, Ruby grabbed her old stuffed bear and tiptoed over to Yang’s room. Yang was awake, sitting in her bed and staring blankly at the moon with an expression that made Ruby feel cold and shivery. Yang flinched when Ruby sat on the bed, and hesitated before pulling the covers back, like she couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do. Ruby crawled under the covers and wrapped one arm around Yang’s stomach, curling her legs around one of her sister’s and pressing her face into the crook of Yang’s shoulder and didn’t say a word. She didn’t tell Yang that she was here because she was terrified that Yang would disappear when Ruby wasn’t holding on. She didn’t say that she was here because Yang looked like she didn’t think this was real and Ruby was trying to show her it was.

Warm fingers —had Yang always been that warm and Ruby somehow forgot or was she sick or- — slid through Ruby’s hair, just like she always used to. Ruby drifted off against her will, still clinging to Yang to make sure she didn’t disappear.

Ruby slept fitfully, and every time she woke up, Yang stroked Ruby’s hair until she fell asleep again.

It didn’t occur to her until late morning, over an awkwardly stilted breakfast, to wonder how Yang had been already awake each time Ruby jolted out of her nightmares. To wonder if Yang had gotten any sleep at all.

Surely she had. She just had nightmares too. Nightmares given to her by whatever bad guys stole her away.

Ruby didn’t say anything to Yang or Dad, but as she watched Yang listlessly wander their home, staring at everything like she hadn’t seen it in years, Ruby decided she was going to be the best Huntress ever. She’d always wanted to be one, to save people and slay monsters, but now she had a new reason to go with it. Someone had **done this** to her big sister. And someday … someday Ruby was going to make sure they never hurt anyone like that ever again.


	4. Zwei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update? Within a reasonable time frame???? Don't get used to it I'm just glorying in having actual chapter backlog that doesn't take a million years to edit. XD
> 
> But behold! I POV the dog. Not sure how well I did, but I enjoyed it, and honestly from what little we see of Zwei he's some kind of unusually intelligent super pup anyway, so yes in this AU, Zwei has more humanlike aging and has been around since the girls were born and is still as young and spry as ever. Also Zwei is a Good Boy.
> 
> Also the song is All Our Days by Jeff Williams. :)

Zwei was frustrated. The house had been wrong for a long, long time. Yang Pup had disappeared and the Pack had suffered for it. Zwei had hunted and hunted and hunted, but her scent trail had disappeared and Zwei hadn’t been able to find her at all. Tai Alpha hadn’t punished Zwei for failing, but the house smelled of sadness and anger all the time. Qrow Bird had fluttered in and out, stinking more of anger and failure and bad drink each time. Ruby Pup had been inconsolable, whimpering into Zwei’s fur for the older pup of the Pack almost every night. It was frustrating, and bad, and Zwei had been sad.

Now Zwei was mad. There was an- an **imposter** here, and the house was starting to smell less of sadness, but that was bad because this wasn’t Yang Pup. Tai Alpha and Ruby Pup and Qrow Bird all **called** the intruder Yang, but Zwei knew the scent of his Yang Pup, he’d memorized it the day Raven Bird brought her home as a mewling newborn puppy, and this imposter wasn’t it. He didn’t know how they couldn’t tell that it wasn’t Yang Pup. Yang Pup had smelled like sunshine and protection and her parents, she had **never** stunk of sadness and stress and **blood** like this intruder did. Yang Pup had never smelled like scales and too-hot sun and of something powerful and dangerous and predatory. This imposter wasn’t a **pup** at all. This was a predator, walking around in **his** territory, fooling members of **his** Pack and every time he tried to run her off or warn the others they just glared at him and scolded him and called him bad. Zwei wasn’t bad! There was an imposter here! They needed to drive out the imposter and find the real Yang Pup!

But no one listened to him, so Zwei stopped barking and instead started following the Predator Imposter from a safe distance. He would find Predator Imposter’s weakness and drive her out, and then they could go back to finding the **real** Yang Pup.

Predator Imposter was alone right now, after many days of always having either Ruby Pup or Qrow Bird or Tai Alpha to defend her from Zwei’s threats and watching. Tai Alpha was in the house talking on his Scroll, Qrow Bird had flown away again, and Ruby Pup was in the shed playing with her metal bits. He suspected she was trying to build herself claws. Zwei had talked to others like himself —Battle Companions, the humans called them, Good Pack, Zwei and the others called themselves—, and the older ones said that a lot of the pups started trying to build their own claws around this age, since most of them did not have claws of their own.

Zwei inched closer to Predator Imposter, looking for weaknesses. Predator Imposter was sitting under the tree in the yard, in Yang Pup’s favorite spot —how dare she—, but when he got closer she looked up from the piece of wood she was playing with and looked at him, “Hey, Zwei.”

Zwei growled softly. Don’t talk to him like you’re Pack, Predator Imposter. He was on to you.

Predator Imposter’s lips twitched up, but her scent was still _sad-angry-grieving-blood-scales-pain-burning_ rather than the happier things that humans usually smelled like when they pulled their lips up. She growled back, faint but deep and Zwei bristled but refused to run away. He was a brave member of the Pack. He had Ruby Pup to protect and Yang Pup to find. He wasn’t going to run away from this Predator Imposter. Predator Imposter’s rumble stopped a moment later and she looked down at her hands, “Yeah, I know. You hate me. You probably don’t even recognize me. I’ll bet I smell completely different now.” Her breath hitched and Zwei smelled tears, but they never fell. Zwei flattened himself onto his belly and growled again. Being sad at him wouldn’t work. His nose wasn’t as dull as Ruby Pup’s or Qrow Bird’s or Tai Alpha’s, he wasn’t going to fall … for…

Predator Imposter had swiped an arm over her eyes and had decided to ignore him. She went back to the piece of wood she’d been carving up with a small metal claw like Yang Pup used to do sometimes and … humming.

Zwei knew that song.

That was Summer Flower’s song. Back before she had left on a hunt and never come back. She had sung it to the pups from their cradles. That was a Pack song. An Imposter wouldn’t know it. Or **shouldn’t**. How did Predator Imposter know it? Predator Imposter ignored his inquisitive bark and Zwei inched closer, ears twitching. This was a song only the Pack sang. Zwei had howled it for the pups when they were little —always shushed by Tai Alpha or Summer Flower a moment later, but Zwei knew he had a good voice for it so he’d kept trying— and he’d never heard it from any other Pack.

Predator Imposter how did you know that song? Answer!

Predator Imposter just glanced at him, then pursed her lips and went back to carving. A moment later of ignoring his questions and Predator Imposter stopped humming and started singing softly, like she was trying to cover up his low barks, “Long ago, before we met, I dreamed about you…”

Zwei stopped and listened. That **was** Summer Flower’s song. There was no mistaking it. And that was exactly how Yang Pup always sang it too. Yang Pup didn’t sing it the same way Ruby Pup did, or Tai Alpha, or Summer Flower. She always sang it very soft, like she was still singing Ruby Pup to sleep once Summer Flower was gone and couldn’t do it anymore. Yang Pup always sang it and smelled at least a little bit sad but happy all at once. And she’d always close her eyes and savor that one bit at the beginning.

Predator Imposter closed her eyes and tilted her head, hands stilling on the wood piece, like she was tasting the words, “Helpless, small, and perfect…” Her breathing hitched. She smelled sad and just a little bit happy, “Welcome to your life…”

…Just like that. Just like Yang Pup.

Zwei crawled closer on his belly, stealthy and invisible on the grass because he was a skilled hunter. He got close enough to touch the Predator Imposter and sniffed at her bare leg. Sadness and blood and scales, something bright like an Aura but stronger and hot as the sun. Anger and pain and danger and … and … Tai Alpha. Tai Alpha’s blood scent. It used to be so strong in Yang Pup, because she was his pup just like she was Raven Bird’s blood pup too. It was here too, just very thin, almost gone. Scrubbed and rubbed out by the smell of scales like how humans tried to scrub out their own scents on their clothes with yucky soap. Another sniff, so close his nose was rubbing against her leg, making her pause and growl warily at him and **there**. Raven Bird’s scent. Just as thin and faded as Tai Alpha’s but **there** , tangled up in it like all parent scents did in their puppies.

…Yang Pup?

Zwei looked up at her face, at big lavender eyes and a wild mane of gold fur that she hated-hated-hated when people cut even though it got so hot in the summer. He sniffed again, just to be sure and … and…

**Yang Pup**.

His Yang Pup was back, his Yang Pup was **home**! He’d found **Yang Pup**!

…He’d treated Yang Pup like an imposter.

Zwei leaped into her lap with a wail of _apology-regret-joy_ because she was home. She’d come **home** and Zwei had tried to make her leave again even though she was hurt and someone had tried to break her scent somehow and Zwei was sorry, he was sorry, he didn’t mean to be a bad dog! He never, ever meant to run off Yang Pup! Especially not when she was hurt and had been gone for so, so long and-!

She started laughing as he washed her face in desperate apology, her hands settling on his fur, and he ignored the impression of scales-under-skin as she petted him, because it was Yang Pup. She’d come home and she was here and Zwei was so **happy**! Zwei was going to take care of her now. He would make the blood and pain leave her scent, and he’d wash her face to make the sadness leave, and he’d make sure Tai Alpha fed her all the good treats because she’d come **back** like a good, good pup!

She picked him up and held him close, helping him get close to her face —good pup, good pup, let him wash away those sad smells—, “Hey, Zwei, finally figured out it was me, huh?” Her voice cracked and her cheeks were salty now, but already her scent was less sad and more happy. Just as it should be. He barked approvingly before going back to cleaning up his wayward pup. Her laughter drew Ruby Pup and Tai Alpha to the backyard, and soon enough Ruby Pup had flopped down next to Yang Pup to giggle and smile and call Zwei a good dog —even though he wasn’t, if he’d been a good dog he would have recognized Yang Pup earlier— and Tai Alpha was smiling again.

Zwei stretched out on Yang Pup’s legs finally with a contented yip. The Pack was here, as much as it ever was these days at least, and Ruby Pup was smiling again, and Yang Pup still stunk of blood and scales and too-much-sunshine under her skin, but her hand was behind his ear just where he liked it and she was making the face humans made because they had no tails to wag.

Yes.

Life was good again.


End file.
